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Army Lieutenant GeneralO-9 General Officer, U.S. Army |
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Army Ranks » Lieutenant General Rank • LTG Pay • LTG Rank History • Promotion Information
History of the Army Lieutenant General Rank
A Lieutenant General is a General Officer in the United States Army at DoD paygrade O-9.
General officers have served as the commanders of the military from the formation of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
The United States Army adopted the general officer rank structure from the British Army, in which it originated in the form in which we know it during the Age of Monarchs with the professionalization of the military.
The rank and title of Lieutenant General in the US Army has held since this time as the second-highest level of general officer.
The title and rank of Lieutenant General was borne out of a combination of the title of “Lieutenant†and the rank of “General.â€
As detailed in the section on lieutenant ranks, the term lieutenant is a French cognate meaning “place-holding,†as in place-holding officer. When applied to generals, specifically in the form of Lieutenant General, it identifies a place-holding General; or, more specifically a second-in-command general who serves as a place holder for the full General.
Want to learn more? Read about the Army's Lieutenant General rank on Military-Ranks.org.
History of the Army
The Army is the oldest and most senior among the branches. The Army's heritage is traced back to the Revolutionary War, when each State of the Union had its own Army, lended to the command of General George Washington. Almost 250 years have passed, but the organizational structure and naming is largely the same. The Army is still divided into Divisions, Brigades, Regiments, Battalions, Companies, and Platoons.